Obama OC Headquarters Wrapping Up With Hope, Uncertainty

If you need any more proof that the Barack Obama campaign desperately sought the Latino vote, one needs no more proof than the Orange County headquarters of Barack Obama, situated on Broadway across the street from the Santora Arts Complex in SanTana. Plastered on the window are various Obama articles that appeared in the local Spanish-language rags--Farándula USA, Miniondas, but strangely not La Opinión's endorsement--and a couple of Sí Se Puede signs. Great effort--but someone forgot to include an upside-down exclamation point on the dramatic Obama portrait.

Inside, volunteers burn up the phone lines--and not just the Obama-paid ringers. On a poster board, someone wrote "We'll appreciate if you can donate your cell phone minutes (underlined in the original) to make these important phone calls! Thanks!" Someone else wrote in red as an addendum, "We need to make more calls"--and with Obama projected to lose in California at this point in the night, ain't that the pinche truth.

SanTana councilmembers Michelle Martinez and David Benavides work their mobiles, as photographers (Orange County Register for sure, maybe the Los Angeles Times) snap away. Meanwhile, a skinny 20-something chick wearing a knit cap let's out a deep sigh. "If I hear Hillary's name one more time..." she trails off. A Latino in a green Los Angeles Dodgers hat finishes the thought: "You'll scream."

Gustavo Arellano is the editor of OC Weekly, author of the syndicated column "¡Ask a Mexican!", and Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. He started at the paper with an angry, fake letter to the editor and went from there—only in Anacrime!